It has been my pleasure to serve as President of AFP Vancouver Island for the past 2 years. When I look at the future of our chapter, I am amazed and proud to see that we've already identified not only our incoming President, but our President Elect and Vice President. Our committee chairs have also been assigning vice-chairs to ensure the future of each committee. This speaks volumes to me about the reputation of our chapter, the caliber of the volunteers we have involved and the leadership of this chapter, dating back before my time.

I would like to thank all of our members who volunteered for AFP last year. I have really enjoyed serving alongside so many fundraising professionals, seasoned and new, all passionate about the work of the organizations they represent. Thank you for all that you give to AFP and our community!

Our new year officially starts July 1 and I would like to extend a warm welcome to our incoming President, Diane Lloyd and our Board of Directors.

Sincerely,

Carly Milloy

PS - If you missed our recent AGM, I would encourage you to check out our 2014 Annual Report with highlights of last year's accomplishments and our newly elected board of directors by clicking here!

Rory Green's Conversations that Change the World

As fundraisers we are always looking for ways to improve how we communicate with our donors--new ways to craft appeal letters, new social media platforms, new ways to say thank you, new kinds of events, and I could go on. At the AFP Vancouver Island AGM earlier this month, Rory Green brought us back to the basics with an amazing presentation on how to talk with your donors.

Rory reminded us that a good conversation with a major donor has almost nothing to do with what you say. What matters most is how you listen.

She reminded us that:

Major gifts officers need to be able to have great conversations with donors. Conversations about hopes, values and beliefs. The key to taking a conversation to a more meaningful level is to build likeability, rapport and trust. As fundraisers, we need to be experts at creating rapport - and creating it quickly.

Rory shared with us some ways that we can listen better--that have been proven to build trust fast. This session, while aimed at major gift officers, was beneficial and inspiring to everyone in the room. AFP Vancouver Island is exciting to be bringing Rory Green back (well, over the internet) at some point this fall when she hosts a webinar on corporate giving exclusively for our chapter.

AFP VI Scholarships - Apply Now!

The AFP VI Scholarship Application Form is now online!

Applicants have the opportunity to receive scholarships for professional skills advancement, which can include:

*Please note that you will be required to login with your AFP username and password. If you do not know your username and password you can click the 'forgot password' or 'forgot username' links here.

The Annual "Every Member Campaign"

The Every Member Campaign is the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy Canada's annual campaign to raise the profile of the fundraising profession by creating sector advocates through education, building philanthropic leaders through scholarships, strengthening the sector through career mentoring and fostering the understand of our profession though research.

The 2015 Every Member Campaign objectives for the Vancouver Island Chapter are:

to exceed our fundraising goal of $4,950.00

to increase our Alpha Society (monthly) donors by 25%

to fulfill our 100% board member commitment to support the Every Member Campaign

to receive the 10-Star Gold rating for our chapter

Why Give?

Your support makes a difference. Your generous gift to the Every Member Campaign enable us - the Vancouver Island Chapter and the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy Canada, to raise the profile of the fundraising profession and support AFP members in their careers as professional and ethical fundraisers.

Donations made by members of our chapter have a direct benefit for fundraisers on Vancouver Island and within our communities. This year, we have the potential to receive a grant of 35% of our fundraising efforts returned to our chapter in support of local programming.

As fundraisers, we all know the value of monthly supporters. Commitments, whether they are monthly, quarterly or semi-annual, fund important initiatives, reduce costs and most importantly allow for maximum impact.

As an Alpha Society member, manageable contributions can allow you the flexibility to make a significant donation over the course of the year.

AFP Vancouver Island is creating a youth engagement program that will involve developing and delivering workshops to local Victoria area high schools. This exciting project will be the first of its kind for AFP in Canada! To make it work, however, we need some dedicated members to join our committee.

Volunteers should be willing to spend time helping to develop the content of the one-hour workshop, and to present and facilitate workshops with teenage students.